Here With Me
by Mystical Star
Summary: Sequel to The Children of War and Zero's Black Clouds. Katsumi recieves a phone call and goes off to find her past. Duo, worried about an SIA reaction, follows her. Developments cause the two to depend on each other more than ever.
1. Part I

Here With Me

By Mystical Star

A Kitty-Chan Production 

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Gundam Wing (darn it!!). However, I do own Anya Katsumi so if you plan on using her, please ask J thanks. 

**Author's Note: **Unless you enjoy being very confused, go read Gundam Wing: Desecration before you read this. J 

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Anya Katsumi had no sooner walked back into her room at Preventer H.Q. after arriving back from Quatre's than her phone rang. 

"Hello, Anya Katsumi speaking." 

"Miss Anya? This is Mr. Larson, your family's lawyer,"

Kat nearly dropped the phone in surprise. "How did you get this number?" She gasped. 

"Lady Une contacted me. She told me that an unknown person took you away after the attack on your family. Most people here presumed that you had amnesia or something and you were wandering around since the authorities couldn't find your body," Larson said. Kat chuckled finding the people's assumptions amusing. 

"So after the attack, I was told by your grandmother to hold on to your inheritance until you came back. I really wasn't sure about it, but since she was the only living relative to claim the inheritance and tell me what to do with it, I did as she asked." 

"My grandmother? Obasan! Where is she?" Katsumi demanded as her heart began to race. _Maybe I'm not so alone after all…_

"I'm afraid she's in the hospital right now. She's had Leukemia for a while," 

"I'm coming! What colony? Where do I go?!" Kat interrogated. 

"Man, you really _did_ have amnesia, didn't you?" The attorney asked. "Colony L2-X-14829, Sacred Heart hospital. I'll meet you there so we can go over things concerning your inheritance," 

"No, I want to spend some time with my grandma before I lose her," Katsumi gulped. "Give me your phone number and I'll contact you once I'm there," She suggested. 

"Alright. Here's my number," Kat pulled out a pen and paper and began to write. 

Please hold on until I get there, Obasan* 

Two Hours Later… 

****

Katsumi sat in a shuttle, staring out of the window and twirling the drawstrings on her blue hooded sweatshirt. She had only told those people who she saw before she left that she was leaving. In other words, only Tom, however, she did call Severina to tell her what was up. She was so happy, and yet so worried at the same time. 

_I'm not alone anymore. _She thought as she smiled to herself. And then, the thought of her grandmother having a terminal disease such as Leukemia greatly disturbed her. _I wish I would have known sooner. I wish I never had gotten that stupid injection of SIA. I hate Dr. J. The asshole. _She thought. 

"Attention passengers please take your seats and fasten your restraining belts. We are about to land in colony L2-X-14829. The weather is scheduled to be rainy for the rest of today with sunshine Tuesday through Friday. Highs in the upper teens** for the rest of the week as well. Have a nice stay. Thank you for flying Colonial Express. We look forward to serving you in the future." The flight attendant said cheerily. 

Kat's hands began to twitch with excitement as she felt the craft land in a docking bay. She could hardly wait for the doors to open so she could get out of the shuttle and see her grandmother. Not to mention, get away from the weird man next to her who kept on asking her about the Preventers and things such as that. 

As soon as the doors open and people began to move out of the craft, Kat grabbed the bag out from under her chair and bolted to go grab a taxi. "Nice talking to you, Katsumi!" The man called after her. 

Kat shook her head and sighed as she kept jogging out of the shuttle and into the spaceport to find the nearest taxicab. 

Back at Preventer HQ 

****

"Hey, Kat," Duo called out as he knocked on her door. "Where is she?" Shinigami asked himself as he scratched his head in puzzlement. 

"She's gone, mate," Said a voice. Duo turned around to see Tom there. 

"What do you mean she's gone? Where'd she go?" Duo asked, even more confused. 

"She got a call from some attorney back in her home colony. Apparently her grandma's still alive and kicking and Kat's off to see her," The young Australian explained. Duo made a face and sighed. 

"Did she say what colony?" He asked.

"Somewhere in L2. She wasn't more specific than that." Tom explained. "She was probably anxious to see a living relative. Someone she remembers. Not many of us SIA victims have that luxury," he reminded his friend. Duo nodded. 

"I just hope that she'll be okay. I mean, you don't suppose that the SIA could screw her up even more if she goes back to a place she remembers, could it?" Duo asked. Tom looked a little worried. 

"I didn't think of that," The Aussie replied, biting his lower lip. 

"Crap," Duo muttered. 

"Well, she said that she did call Severina, maybe she knows," Tom suggested. 

"Good idea. Do you know her number?" 

"She's at Quatre's place. I'll call her," Tom said, walking down to his room to use the phone. 

"I hope Kat's okay," Duo muttered to himself a she followed Tom down the hall. 

Colony L2X-14829, Sacred Heart Hospital 

****

"Could you tell me where Yuki Hakusetu is?" Katsumi asked the nurse at the lobby desk. The woman looked up at her with an odd look on her face. 

"I'm sorry, ma'am, I've never seen you here. May I ask your name?" 

"Katsumi Anya", Kat stumbled over her words. She'd never really gotten used to saying her name the English way. "I'm her granddaughter," 

The nurse dropped her pen. "I'm sorry, did you just say you were, her…her granddaughter?" Katsumi giggled. 

"Surprised to see me?" 

"Everybody thought you had died in the explosion. Well, everyone except your grandmother of course," the nurse stated. "I'll take you up to her room. Hakesetu-sama is a good friend of mine, I enjoy being her nurse." 

"I see, so you've been told of the 'good old Japanese ways', eh?" Kat laughed. 

That's right. Obasan was only half-Japanese, but she spoke the language fluently and always had to be called the proper name. "Obasan" by her grandchildren, "Koi" by Ojisan***, and "Hakusetu-sama" by everyone else. The young woman reminisced. 

"Yes," The nurse laughed. 

"I never imagined that she was Japanese when she first came here, her hair being red and all. You look a lot like her," She added. Katsumi blushed. 

"Lots of people say that." She said, dismissing the comment. 

"Oh, by the way, you know that your grandmother has Leukemia, right?" The nurse asked. Anya nodded solemnly. 

"If we could find a match for her bone marrow, we might be able to do a transplant and save her," The nurse pointed out as they walked up a flight of stairs. Kat's eyes went wide. 

"You mean, I could be a match?" 

"Well, you look an awful lot like Hakesetu-sama, why shouldn't you have matching bone marrow?" The woman joked. 

"I'll do it! Anything to save her," Kat said, grabbing the nurses arm. The nurse looked a little alarmed at first, but her eyes grew soft after a second or two. 

"Alright. I'll have the test arranged for you. Someone will be by Hakesetu-sama's room later to take a sample. Is that okay?" The nurse suggested. Katsumi nodded as the two women stopped outside room 246. The door label said: "Hakesetu, Yuki". 

"If you have any questions, you can just come down to the front desk and ask for me. My name's Annie Finch," The woman said. Katsumi smiled at her and shook her hand. 

"Thanks so much for your help," She said. Annie smiled and nodded. "I'd better be going. Say hello to Hakesetu-sama for me!" She said as she left. 

Kat waved after her new friend and then turned to the door. She quietly opened it so as not to disturb her grandmother if she was sleeping. She had the door halfway open when she heard a familiar voice. 

"Come in, don't be shy!" It was her grandmother. 

"Obasan!" Katsumi cried, bursting into the room. Of course, her grandmother looked rather different from the last time Katsumi had seen her. Yuki's once red hair was now very grayed out, although it still retained some of its reddish tint. 

"Katsumi? Little Katsumi?!" The elderly woman gasped as her granddaughter came into the room, her eyes threatening to pour over with tears. 

"Oh, Obasan!" Kat sobbed as she fell down at her grandmother's bedside and hugged her grandmother. 

"Chibi Neko! I knew you were alive. I just new it," Yuki said, stroking her granddaughter's hair. "Where have you been all this time, my little kitten?" She asked. 

"It's a long story, Obasan," 

"I have a lot of time, Katsumi," 

**Meanwhile…**

"Severina! Come on where is she?!" Tom growled for about the fifth time at the image on the vid-fone. 

"No. I told her that no one was going to bother her!" Severina crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air. 

"We're not going to bother her! We want to make sure she'll be okay! We're worried about how the SIA may affect her if she goes someplace that's familiar," Tom explained in a harried tone. 

"Oh come on Tom, she's in a frigging hospital!" 

"They don't know what SIA is!" 

"Come on. Its amnesia at a higher level you idiot. They'll find her a bed and hook her up to machines until she wakes up." 

"Oh for God's sake," Duo said from behind Tom as he shook his head and pushed Tom out of the way. Tom landed on the floor with a loud thud. 

"HEY!" The young Australian protested as he landed. 

"Severina, please tell us where she is," Duo pleaded in a worried voice. Severina looked at him critically, as if she was thinking. The brunette crossed her arms. 

"I don't know…I promised her," 

"Please, I just want to make sure she'll be okay," The God of Death continued to plea. Severina looked at him pitifully. "I'll tell her that I looked it up on her file," he added. 

The young woman looked at Duo. His eyes were full of sincerity, something that she couldn't just ignore. She sighed. "Fine. She's in colony L2X-14829 at Sacred Heart hospital. If she tells you to go away, please listen to her, she wants to be alone," Severina warned.

Duo nodded. "Thanks, Severina. We owe ya one," He said, giving her a peace sign. 

"No shit you do, especially if I get in trouble with Kat!" Severina laughed as she smiled and waved. 

"See ya later!" Duo said as the connection ended. 

"Hey, Tom, let's get ourselves a shuttle and get outta here" Duo said, looking down on the ground where he had pushed his comrade. 

"I think you should go alone. Kat would probably think we're there to spy on her or something if two of us go," Tom admitted. 

"But-" 

"And let's face it. She likes you," Tom said, looking up at Duo. Shinigami got an embarrassed look on his face and began to stutter, trying to make up excuses. Tom laughed. 

"And you like her," 

"Now wait a minute!" Duo yelled, looking thoroughly embarrassed and blushing terribly. Tom began to laugh so hard he fell over again. "Who's giving these ideas to you!?" Duo demanded. 

"You are, stupid!" Tom said amid his laughter. Duo kicked him. "Ow! Hey!" Tom yelped. 

"Fine, I'll go alone, but just because I'm worried about her," Duo huffed as he walked away as fast as he could. 

"Ah young love," Tom said in a mocking dreamy tone. 

**Back to Kat…**

"Oh Chibi Neko, I'm so sorry that all happened to you," Yuki said as Kat finished her story. 

"You don't have to be sorry, Obasan. It's my fault. If I only would have run…" 

"Kitten, it's not your fault! I won't let you blame yourself for this," Her grandmother, stated in a defiant tone. Katsumi looked away from Yuki in shame. The young woman still blamed herself for her family's death. If I would have listened to Momma…maybe we all would have escaped and we could have been together…

"Little Katsumi, do you remember that lullaby I used to sing to you?" Yuki asked, changing the subject. Kat looked at her grandmother and though for a moment. 

"A little…something about wind talking and flowers…" Kat whispered as she strained to remember. 

"Oto no, nai mahiru, kaze wa tada akarui. Sukoshi, nemutasou ni, Hanabira ga yureta…" Yuki began to sing. Katsumi suddenly remembered and began to sing in English. 

"I don't know, what words I can say, the wind has a way, to talk to me, flowers sleep, a silent lullaby, I pray for reply, 'I'm ready'," 

"You sang that to me when Momma would go away." Kat murmured. 

"Yes, and do you remember why I call you Chibi Neko?" Yuki asked. Her granddaughter laughed. 

"Because my name starts with 'Kat'. Chibi Neko means little kitten," Yuki smiled and then yawned. 

"Hm. I think I should get some sleep," she stated. Katsumi nodded, knowing how tired victims of Leukemia could get. Just then the door opened. 

"Hakesetu-sama? Can I steal your granddaughter away for a little bit?" A nurse asked. 

"Oh! That test! Obasan, I'm going to go see if my bone marrow will match yours. I'll be back in a bit," Katsumi assured her grandmother, giving her a hug. 

"Alright. You be careful with my little kitten!" Yuki said to the nurse, who laughed. 

The nurse led Katsumi out of the room and down the hall to an examination room. "Nobody's said anything to me about how Obasan's actually doing, how long has she had Leukemia?" 

"Half of a year," The nurse answered. 

"How bad is it?" Katsumi continued to ask. The young nurse looked down at the ground. 

"The last time she saw a doctor, he said that he was giving her a few weeks if she didn't have a transfusion." 

"WHAT?!" Kat gasped.  "How…when…. why didn't anybody say anything?" She grabbed for words out of thin air. "How long will she have if I'm a match?" the Angel pilot asked. 

"She could have a normal life span, up to 85 years or so," The nurse said. "But finding a match for Hakesetu-sama has been difficult. I don't know if you'll be it." She added. Katsumi's eyes flared with defiance. 

"I will be. I look like her, I sound like her. I am her match," 

**A few hours later…**

Duo burst through the hospital doors, looking rather flustered. All of the people in the lobby looked at him with curiosity. He paid no attention to them as he marched up to the front desk. 

"I'm looking for Anya Katsumi," He said to the woman at the front desk. "Do you know what room she's in?" he asked. The woman looked at him. 

"Let me see if I can find her," she said as she typed something into the computer. "I don't think she's a patient here, she's visiting her Grandma," Duo said. 

"What's the name?" 

Duo suddenly felt rather stupid. "Uh, maybe Anya?" The lady typed the name in and the computer beeped back. 

"Sorry, no one by that name in this hospital," The woman said. 

"I know she's here, her granddaughter's name is Anya Katsumi. Rusty colored hair, blue eyes," Duo began to describe Kat, hoping to spark a memory. 

"Half Japanese?" He offered. 

"OH! I know who you're talking about! That kid looks just like Hakesetu-sama, she's in room two-forty-six, on the second floor." The woman said, laughing. 

"Thanks!" Duo said as he turned towards the stairs. He walked up as quickly as he could without running. As he reached the last stair, he looked down the hall a little ways where he saw Katsumi, closing a door to one of the rooms. 

"Kat!" He cried, sprinting down the hall. 

"Duo?!" 

"Kat!" Duo repeated as he slammed into Katsumi and held her tightly. "Duo? What's going on?" 

"I was worried about you! We thought coming back to a place you remembered might have messed with the SIA recovery," Shinigami said, gasping for air. 

"Duo, I'm fine, really. No headaches, fevers, seizures, nothing. I'm just visiting my Obasan," 

"Who?" Duo asked, breaking the embrace. Kat laughed. 

"Obasan. My Grandmother. Our family was really Japanese; we spoke a lot of the language so we called our grandparents by their proper Japanese names. Grandmother is Obasan, grandpa is Ojisan." 

Duo nodded. "She in there?" He asked, regarding the door. 

"Sleeping. She's got Leukemia. I'm waiting for test results to see if I'm a match for her bone marrow." Kat said calmly. Duo was puzzled. 

"You don't seem the least bit worried." He noticed. 

"That's because I know I'm the match. I look like her and sound like her. My mom used to say that I was a miniature version of Obasan, I have to be the match," Katsumi said confidently. Duo scratched his head, hoping she wasn't setting herself up for heartbreak. 

"I don't mean to pry, but how long does she have if you're not the match?" He asked. Kat looked down at the ground and away from Duo, wanting not to think about it. 

"The doctor said a few weeks," She muttered. The young American man bit his lip and didn't say anything. "But I'm her match, so it's no problem," She said, shooing away the bad thoughts. Duo smiled at her, hoping she was right. 

"Katsumi?" A voice came from behind them. Kat turned around to see her friend, Annie, standing there with a clipboard. "It's the results from your test, they wanted me to give them to you," she added. 

"So, I passed, right?" Kat asked, looking cheery. Annie sighed. 

"No, Katsumi, your not Hakesetu-sama's match…I'm sorry," She said. Duo looked at his friend. Kat's eyes were vacant, it looked as though she'd just been shot or stabbed. 

"Kat," Duo said softly. 

"You're wrong!" Kat snapped suddenly. "I have to be her match! I just have to be! I look like her, I sound like her, and I act like her! Why can't my blood be the same?! Why?!" Kat cried out. Duo took her in his arms for comfort as she began to cry. 

"All of the people who could be her match…" Annie started to say but was cut off. 

"Are dead!" Kat snapped angrily, still crying into Duo's chest. "They're dead because I didn't run!" She said. Duo could feel her sobs becoming more and more violent as he held her. 

"It's not your fault, Kat," He tried to console her. "Yes it is! You don't know, Duo, you just don't know!" She said as she sunk to the ground, Duo sinking with her. 

"Yes I do, Kat," He whispered, putting his head to hers. "I know exactly how you feel," He added as he brushed the hair out of her face. He saw her tears and brushed them away too. 

Annie saw this and figured that the two needed time alone, so she walked away. 

Kat took Duo's hand after he had brushed her tears away and held it. "I'll be alone now, really alone," She whispered. Duo didn't quite know what to say. He just held her closer to him, hoping to offer some comfort as they sat there on the hospital floor. 

A week later… 

****

Kat's grandmother had gotten worse over the seven days that she had been there. Duo had stayed with Kat at her old house, which her grandmother had been living in before she got sick. It was Friday again, and late morning. Kat had just walked out of her room having gotten dressed after her shower. Her hair was still rather damp. She emerged from her room to see Duo standing just over the landing of the stairs, looking at pictures. Kat walked up behind him. 

"That's all of us at a picnic, it was after Taro was born," She said, regarding the picture with fond memories. Duo looked back at her, a little surprised to see her there. 

"You guys look really happy," He said.

"It was one of my favorite days when Mom was home," Kat said. Duo smiled at her. 

"She'd push me on the swings and catch me when I jumped off in mid-air. She'd slide down the slide with me when I was younger so I wouldn't be scared," The young woman said, closing her eyes to remember. 

"Sometimes, if I listen carefully, I can hear her laughing with me," She whispered. 

Suddenly, the phone rang, jogging Kat from her daydream. "Somehow, I don't think that's what it sounded like," Duo joked. Kat laughed as she picked up the phone. 

"Anya residence. Yes, this is she," Kat said. Duo watched her face suddenly grow very worried. 

"What? Oh God, I'll be right there," Duo saw the urgency in Kat's eyes as she began to fidget with the phone cord. 

"Yeah, thanks," She said as she hung up. "I have to go to the hospital, Obasan stopped breathing about ten minutes ago. The resuscitated her, but they don't think she has long," Kat choked on her words as she dashed down the stairs. Duo ran after her. 

"Wait! I'll take you!" He called after her. 

"I have a driver's license you know," Kat said, grabbing the car keys off of the nail next to the garage door. 

"You're preoccupied, I don't want you driving like a maniac to get us to the hospital," 

"Well then what do you call your driving?" 

"Mildly safe driving," 

"HA!" Kat said, handing the keys over to Duo and shaking her head as she followed him out to the garage. The two hopped in the car and started off towards the hospital. 

"They better not have called that asshole of a lawyer." She said, looking out of the window as Duo sped down the street. 

The lawyer who had originally called Katsumi back and Preventer HQ had shown up at the hospital one day while Duo and Kat were visiting. He wanted to discuss Kat's inheritance in the event of her grandmother's death. Kat did not want to talk about it. _"It's not right to talk about this while she's still alive! I don't care right now!" _Duo had heard her yell at him. 

In practically no time, they were at the hospital. Duo dropped Kat off at the front doors while he went to park. Kat burst into the hospital and up the stairs, running into an intern who was carrying a stack of papers. 

"Sorry!" She called as she ran up the stairs as fast as she could. Annie was outside Yuki's room, apparently waiting for Kat. 

"Where is she?" The young woman demanded of the nurse. Annie opened the door to reveal Katsumi's grandmother, hooked up to an oxygen machine and various other life-saving devices that apparently were not helping. 

"She said that she wanted to see you, she said she wouldn't d-die until you came," Annie said with tears running down her face. Kat didn't say anything as she dashed into her grandmother's room and fell down at the bedside. 

"Chibi Neko…" Yuki said, her voice barely there. 

"Obasan, please," Kat pleaded. "Don't leave me," she began to cry. The elderly lady looked over at her granddaughter and smiled. 

"Kitten, remember my lullaby?" She asked. Kat nodded and smiled, despite her tears. 

"Shall I sing it for you?" Katsumi asked, taking hold of her grandmother's hand. Yuki smiled. "That would be _sugoi,_" she whispered, using the Japanese word for "wonderful". Kat gulped down the lump in her throat and began to sing her grandmother's song in its original language. 

_"__Oto no, nai mahiru,_

_ kaze wa tada akarui. _

_Sukoshi, nemutasou ni,_

_ Hanabira ga yureta_

_"Nani ge nai kono omoi_

_Nee, hito wa donna kotoba de_

_Yondeiru no…"_

Yuki's eyes began to close as Katsumi finished singing. "Obasan?" 

"_Kirei_…"* Yuki said as she breathed her last. Kat's eyes grew wide. 

"No," She gasped as she felt her grandmother's had grow limp in hers. Just then Duo came in, he took one look at the scene and his shoulders slumped. He'd only known Yuki for a week, but it was more than just disappointing to loose her. 

Kat lowered her forehead until it touched her grandmother's cold hand and she started to sob. 

"I'm all alone…. all alone" She cried. Duo went to her side and put his arm around her shoulder. 

To Be Continued… 

Notes 

*Japanese for "Grandmother". 

**I figured that the colonies probably used Celsius, so I went and looked it up. The upper teens in Celsius would be like 60 degrees Fahrenheit.  

***Japanese for "Grandfather" 

*Japanese for  "beautiful"

The lullaby that Katsumi and her grandmother sing is Melfina's song from Outlaw Star. 


	2. Part II

Here With Me

By Mystical Star

A Kitty-Chan Production 

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Gundam Wing (darn it!!). However, I do own Anya Katsumi so if you plan on using her, please ask J thanks. 

**Author's Note: **Unless you enjoy being very confused, go read Gundam Wing: Desecration before you read this. J 

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Part II 

****

Kat woke up in her new apartment, feeling as though a car had hit her. She'd been crying herself to sleep for the past week and a half since she and Duo had gotten back. 

Her family's attorney had given Kat her inheritance, the house, her parent's money, and property in storage. Katsumi, not wanting to be in a place where all of her memories could torture her, gave her house as an orphanage and left. She got an apartment close to Preventer HQ. It was a fairly modest apartment, considering how large her inheritance was. She was frugal though, and didn't want to spend it all in one place. 

The young woman dragged herself out of bed and into the shower, where she remained until the hot water ran out. 

"Shouldn't have done that," Kat said to herself as she got out of the shower. "Now I'm even more tired than before," She grumbled as she wrapped her bathrobe around her and toweled her hair. She walked back into her bedroom to find some clothes when she noticed the light on her answering machine was blinking. The young woman raised an eyebrow, but pushed the button. 

"Hey Kat! It is I, Severina!" Her friend's voice declared in a heroic tone. Kat giggled. "We heard you got your own place, so we're heading over there tonight to throw you a homecoming party!" 

"Wha--? Hey!" Kat objected to the recording. 

"No ifs ands or buts about it, Duo, Quatre, Tom, Li, and I should be over there around seven or so. We might get a few others to tag along, but you can be sure that we'll be there! See you!" 

"Oh for God's sake!" Kat sighed as she walked out onto her balcony. The synthetic wind blew through her damp hair as she looked out onto the colony. 

"Oh well. It's better than spending the night rotting in front of the TV." She decided as she leaned on the railing. Her apartment was ten stories up, so she tried not to look down, but she did. 

"The _only_ way to commit suicide," She commented to herself. She meant for it to be a joke, but the words made her afraid of herself. _What did I just say? _She questioned. 

"I need to go rent a funny movie," She concluded as she walked inside to get dressed. 

**_6:30 PM…_**

****

Severina and Quatre had just arrived. They had made arrangements to stay at Preventer HQ for the night and were going to drop their bags off before heading to Kat's apartment. 

"It's good to be back," Severina sighed as she looked out of the window at the buildings they were passing. 

"Yeah. I wonder how everyone's been doing?" Quatre asked as he turned into Preventer HQ's parking lot. "Do you think it's a good idea that we didn't even tell Duo that we're bringing him? What if he's made plans?" He added. 

"Well then, too bad for his plans! We'll kidnap him for the night," Severina announced, smiling at Quatre, who laughed. "Speak of the devil," She added, pointing towards the sidewalk. There was none other than Duo Maxwell, wearing his normal black jacket, red shirt, and blue jeans. Quatre pulled into a parking space right in front of where Duo was walking. 

"Hey Duo!" Severina greeted as she emerged from the car. Duo looked a little surprised. 

"What are you guys doing here?" He asked. 

"On business," Quatre answered, trying not to laugh. "Do you have any plans for tonight?" he asked as he retrieved his bag from the back of the car. 

"Uh…no, I don't think so," Duo stuttered, a little confused. 

"Good! Because we're kidnapping you!" Severina said, grabbing the young American and handcuffing him. 

"WHAT?!" Duo shrieked. 

"Severina?! Where did you get those?" Quatre asked, a little embarrassed. Severina looked at her friend with total innocence in her eyes. 

"From Instructor H, he said to use them to keep my enemies out of the way." She explained. "Keep your mind out of the gutter!" She scolded Quatre as she shoved Duo into the backseat of the car. Winner blushed furiously. 

"We'll be back, Duo. We're going to drop our bags off inside and then we're going to Kat's place," Severina said as she grabbed her duffle bag and shut the door. 

"Hey!" Duo screeched as Severina locked the doors. 

"Severina, I don't think he would have resisted if we had just told him straight out," Quatre pointed out. 

"I know, it's just more fun this way," Severina smiled. Quatre scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. 

"This should make for an interesting story for Kat," He thought aloud as they walked into Preventer HQ. 

Twenty minutes later-Kat's Apartment… 

****

Katsumi was on the balcony again, looking out at the darkening sky, if you could call a colony wall a sky. 

"I wish I could see the stars," She whispered as she leaned on the railing that was holding her in. Car horns from ten stories down honked in annoyance at each other. Kat looked down again, wondering if one of the cars below her had Severina, Quatre, Duo, Tom, or Li in it. Of course, she couldn't recognize any of the vehicles from ten stories up, but it was interesting to imagine it. 

"I wonder what they're doing-"

The doorbell rang, answering Kat's question before she could even finish asking it. "Hey, Kat! Open up!" It was Severina's voice. Katsumi hurried to the door and opened it. Severina glomped onto her. 

"Long time no see!" Severina said. 

"Welcome to my humble abode!" Kat laughed, noticing Duo and Quatre behind Severina. 

"Hi!" Quatre greeted as Severina started to take off her shoes. 

"Hey, Severina, what're you doing?" Duo asked, regarding her stocking feet. Kat laughed. 

"It's a Japanese custom to take off your shoes when you enter a house or building. Dr. J. always thought it was weird that I'd take my shoes off whenever I came into the base and wore slippers around. I guess the SIA missed that part of me," Kat said. Duo nodded and then took off his shoes. 

"But you don't have to, I just left the mat there for anyone who wants to," Kat said. Duo smiled at her. 

"Yeah, but I want to," He said. Katsumi smiled. "So is everybody coming? Or just Tom and Li?" She asked. 

"More than likely just Tom and Li. Trowa and Wufei are off on assignment, and Relena is off speaking. Heero's on her security team." Quatre explained, also taking off his shoes. Kat brushed the hair out of her face, one of her nervous habits. 

_They don't need to do that! _She thought to herself. 

"Go figure Heero's got the security detail. He's been really edgy since the 'incident'*, or whatever they're calling it now," Duo sighed. Severina shrugged and walked into the apartment further. 

"Cool place," She commented. 

"Thanks," Kat said, walking towards the kitchenette. "Do you guys want something to drink?" She asked, opening the refrigerator. 

"Whadya have?" Duo asked, peeking over her shoulder. "No alcohol, if that's what you're wondering," Kat sniggered at him. 

"Well, you're no fun!" Duo laughed, slapping her on the back playfully. There was a knock at the door. 

"The party's here!" Tom's distinct voice called out. Severina bounded to the door and opened it, feeling rather giddy to be reunited with friends. 

"Howdy!" Tom greeted.

"Hello!" Li said from behind him. "I brought something with me, hope you guys don't mind," He added, holding up a bag full of alcoholic drinks. Tom sighed and shook his head. 

"I tried to talk him out of it," The young Australian man pointed out. 

"I don't mind really, just don't let it get out of hand, I have neighbors, you know," Kat said, pointing towards the wall. 

"Don't worry, it shouldn't," Tom said, glaring at Li, who grinned stupidly back at him. 

As the night progressed, the six friends talked about random things. Severina kept eyeing Kat and Duo, who were sitting next to each other on the love seat, but were as far away from each other as they could get. She noticed that Duo tried to put his arm around Kat once, but she got tense so he retracted his arm. That's when his drinking began to get out of hand. 

"Hey, Kat, I have a quick question for ya, c'mere," Severina said getting up from the chair and grabbing her friend's hand. 

"We'll be back!" Kat said, wondering what her friend was doing. Severina pulled Kat out to the balcony and closed the door. 

"What's up? You look a little nervous sitting by Duo, is there something wrong?" She asked. Kat looked away. 

"I…I don't know," She said, holding her left elbow with her right hand nervously. Severina bit her lower lip in frustration. 

"Is everything okay?" Severina continued to ask. Kat sighed. 

"I've been having weird dreams ever since Obasan…my grandmother, died." She admitted, looking up at her friend. 

"Is it the SIA?" Severina asked, slightly worried. 

"No…they're more like premonitions or something. I go to sleep and suddenly, I'm in this black room with Duo. He looks sad, and I try to reach out to him, but the second my hand touches his, the blackness swallows him up…It's like someone's telling me that if I get close to him, he'll die," 

"Now wait a minute! I thought that we had just cleared up this whole mess about being Death and all of that stuff a few weeks ago**," Severina stated, a little puzzled. 

"I know I won't kill him…I'd never do anything like that…but I think being me being around him reminds him of Hilde. I can see this sadness in his eyes sometimes when he looks at me," Kat said. Severina made an annoyed face and ran her fingers through her hair. 

"At least don't push him away," She suggested. "Quatre told me that when Duo gets depressed sometimes, he drinks a lot, I'm kind of worried about that," Severina said, nodding towards the inside of the apartment. Kat looked over at her friends through the glass door and saw how incredibly intoxicated Duo looked, and he was still drinking. She bit her lip. 

"I didn't realize," She whispered. 

"He likes you," Severina pointed out. "Maybe the sadness in his eyes is for you," 

"I've been such an idiot," Kat said, grabbing the door handle and walking back into the apartment. Severina followed her. 

"We're back!" Kat announced as she plopped down next to Duo, close this time. Maxwell looked a little surprised, and his drinking slowed down. 

Soon, it was midnight and everyone figured it was time to get home. Tom and Li had already left. Li had gotten a little out of hand himself and Tom, always being the designated driver, took Li home. Kat was a little concerned for Duo, who was insisting on walking home, despite his obvious state of drunkenness. 

"Don't worry, Kat, we'll take him back home," Severina said as she tried to lead Duo out of the door. 

"I'm…wawlking hommme," He slurred, and being rather stubborn about it. He wouldn't let Severina touch him. 

"Duo," Quatre tried to plea as Duo headed for the door. 

"Duo Maxwell! Stop!" Katsumi cried in a rather defiant tone. Duo whirled around, swearing he heard someone else say his name. 

"Hilde?" He asked. 

"No, Duo, it's me, Kat," Anya said sympathetically, walking towards him. 

"Kat…?" Duo said the name slowly as if he were tasting each letter, he suddenly held his head. "I'm dizzy…" he said, closing his eyes. Kat rushed forward to support him as he began to pass out. 

"I think someone's had a wee bit too much to drink," Kat laughed, taking his arm and putting it over her shoulders to carry him back in. Quatre helped her take Duo to the couch. 

"He can stay here tonight," Kat said fondly; looking down on Duo, now fast asleep. 

"Okay. Anything's better than walking around the streets at night in a drunken rampage," Severina said, smiling at Katsumi as she and Quatre walked out of the door. 

"See you guys around! Kat said, waving goodbye to her friends as they began their walk towards the elevator. 

"G'night!" Severina and Quatre said, waving back. 

Kat shut the door to her apartment and turned back to Duo, who was completely zonked out on the couch. Katsumi couldn't help but stare at him as he lay there sleeping. She smiled at him just before going back to her room to grab and extra blanket to give him. 

After wrapping him in a blanket, the young woman kneeled down next to him and took his hand.

"I'm sorry, Duo…" She whispered, putting the back of his hand to her cheek, feeling his warmth. 

"Good night," Katsumi whispered as she put his hand back beneath the blanket and went to bed herself. 

Unfortunately, sleep did not come easily for her, and when it did, it brought unwanted sights. 

Dream~ 

Katsumi felt rather cold as she looked around herself. Black. Everything was black around her, except for the person standing in front of her, Duo. She looked into his eyes and saw such a sad and cold look about them. 

"Duo, are you okay?" Kat asked. Duo looked away. 

"Duo?" She repeated, feeling a wave of remorse wash over her. Maxwell didn't look back at her, or say anything. 

"Duo, please," Kat was nearly crying as she reached out a hand to touch his hand, but as her skin made contact with him, Duo dissipated into the blackness surrounding her. 

_~End dream_

"Duo! No!" She cried sitting straight up in bed. Once she realized where she was, Kat calmed down. 

"Just another stupid dream," She muttered to herself as she wiped the hair out of her face. Kat looked over to the clock to see it was three in the morning, and she flopped back down onto the pillow with a moan. 

Suddenly, she heard a door close. The young woman raised an eyebrow, wondering what had caused the noise. She was pretty sure Duo wasn't up, but she went to go check anyway. 

Katsumi walked out into the living room/kitchen area and peered over the back of the couch to see it empty. 

"Duo?" She asked, seeing if she'd get an answer. She got a cold breeze on her back from the slightly opened balcony door. Kat turned to see if he was there, he was. _When he closed the door, it must have bounced back open._ She told herself. A thought hit her. 

Duo was on the balcony, ten stories up. An image of his sad face flashed past her, and then him vanishing into the darkness. Kat was suddenly scared. 

"Duo!" She cried, bursting through the balcony door and glomping onto Duo from behind. 

"Kat? What the-" Duo looked behind him to see Kat sobbing a she held onto him. 

"What's wrong?" He asked, turning around and embracing her. 

"I thought…I thought you were going to jump…" 

"What gave you that idea?" Duo laughed. When Kat didn't look up at him, he saw it wasn't funny.  

"I've been having these dreams…when I touch you, you disappear…I was afraid that you'd disappear, Duo…" 

"What?" 

"Duo, I'm sorry for treating you the way I did tonight…" 

"Kat, hold it," Duo said, lifting her chin with his hand. 

"I've been really out of it lately. I've been wanting to talk to you like this for a while, ever since I saw that guy put a gun to your head**…I got so worried about you after that. And when your grandma died, you really closed up and it scared me, because I've been alone all of my life and I was afraid you would leave me alone," Duo said softly. 

"No…I wouldn't. Duo. I won't let you be alone," Kat whispered. "I love you too much," she added. 

Duo, rather stupefied by her last remark, twitched at the words, he smiled widely and softly brushed away Kat's tears as she looked up at him. 

Their eyes locked together, they could see each other's pain, hopes, and sorrows all through their eyes. Duo leaned down and met Kat's forehead and he closed his eyes. 

"We'll never be alone," He whispered, stroking her cheek again. Somehow, it doesn't matter how, their lips met for the first time as a soft synthetic breeze moved past them in the dark of the night. 

When the kiss ended, the two moved back into the house, arm in arm, back to Katsumi's room. They spent the night there, holding each other so the other would not feel alone. 

Their nightmares were gone. They were no longer alone. 

The End 

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Notes 

*The "Incident" is what Gundam Wing: Desecration is all about. Go read it if you want to know ;) 

**See "Black Clouds", chapter one. 

**Author's Note: **I do believe there were a few readers who saw the Duo/Kat pairing coming a long while ago…such good insight ^^. Actually, when GWD was "The Return of the Gundams", the romance was written into the plot, which was one of the reasons why it sucked. However, romance was one of the things that I intended to write in (because I always seem to anyway) so I figured instead of putting it in the original story when I rewrote it, why not drop hints and make a sequel? I'm a genius, ne? Right… More like a hapless romantic running out of ideas. ^^;


	3. Part III

Here With Me

By Mystical Star

A Kitty-Chan Production 

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Gundam Wing (darn it!!). However, I do own Anya Katsumi so if you plan on using her, please ask J thanks. 

**Author's Note: **Unless you enjoy being very confused, go read Gundam Wing: Desecration before you read this. I'm going to be using a lot of Japanese words from now on, so see the end of the chapter if you want to know what they're saying.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Chapter Three Sunday, Three days after chapter two… 

Duo awoke to the synthetic colony sun peering through the window of Katsumi's bedroom. He slowly propped himself up and looked down beside him to see a mess of crumpled, empty, bedding. 

"Kat?" 

The young American sprung out of bed and into the main room of the apartment, where he found his companion in the kitchenette, making breakfast. 

"Kat! There you are!" He stated, walking up behind her and slipping his arms around her waist. 

"Ohayo Duo-kun!" Kat greeted as she flipped a pancake.

In the past three days, the two had become very dependent on each other's presence. Duo had begun to live with Kat so they could keep each other company. They always ended up sleeping in the same place, whether it was the couch or Kat's bed, so neither would be alone. 

"Smells good," Duo commented as he rested his head on her shoulder. 

"Thanks," Katsumi smiled. "Heero called while you were asleep," she added nonchalantly as she took the finished pancake off the grille. 

"What was he calling about?" Duo asked. 

"Relena's been invited to a fundraiser gala for some charity and she wants to go." Kat said. 

"So?" The violet-eyed pilot inquired. 

"Lately, there have been threats from some civilian against Relena. Heero wants to increase her security. We'd be undercover in plainclothes." 

"I thought the war was over," Duo sighed. 

"I thought so too," Kat said.

Noon-Preventer HQ 

"Howdy, Heero!" Duo greeted as he and Kat waltzed into the office building of the Preventer complex. Heero nodded in greeting. 

"Come with me," He said plainly as he led them down the hallway to meeting room seven. The three entered the room. Kat and Duo sat down in the chairs that were around the table while Heero walked to the front where there was an overhead projector ready for presentation. 

"Relena has been invited to a fundraiser gala for the Children's Hospital Organizations on Earth. The event is going to be this Friday evening at seven o'clock PM in Tokyo." Heero explained. 

"Alright! Tokyo!" Katsumi cheered. Heero looked at her curiously as he turned on the overhead projectors. 

"This is a layout of the ballroom in which the fundraiser is being held. It has an upper floor that is open to the main floor, so you have to be watching both floors. Zechs will be escorting Relena, so their shouldn't be too much to worry about, but he wanted to be sure," Heero explained. 

"You'll both have handguns with tranquilizer darts in them, so you'll need to wear appropriate clothing so you can conceal them," 

"What do you mean 'appropriate clothing'?" Kat asked. 

"You're going to be undercover at a fancy dinner thing, Kat. You have to wear a dress," Duo pointed out, with a hint of humor in his voice. 

"WHAT?!" the young woman exclaimed. 

"You haven't worn one before?" Duo nearly laughed, thinking she was joking 

"Not since I was little! I hate dresses!" Kat huffed, crossing her arms. Duo did laugh this time, realizing that his companion was not joking. She glared at him. 

"Too bad for you," Heero said, shrugging and continuing on with the mission outline. 

"You will both be equipped with communication devices. You must keep the lines open at all times in case of developments. You have to stay on opposite sides of the room at all times for maximum security." 

"But-" Duo began to protest, but before he could get another syllable out of his mouth, Heero gave him the infamous icy glare and Shinigami gave up. 

"I think that's it. Any questions?" Heero said, taking his eyes off Duo. 

"Do I really have to wear a-" 

"Yes," 

Heero cut in on Kat before she could finish

Later at Kat's apartment… 

****

As scheduled, it began to rain that afternoon. Duo had just walked in the door after a quick jaunt to the corner store for what he deemed as life support: pizza. He set the sack down next to the mat on the floor while he removed his shoes. The apartment was abnormally quiet. Usually when he left, Kat would turn on music and sing at the top of her lungs because she was rather timid about singing in front of people, not to mention the involuntary dancing that usually accompanied it. 

But the only sound was the pounding of rain on the glass of the windows. The young American man stuck the make-it-yourself pizza in the freezer before he set out on his Kat-hunting mission. 

"Kat?" He called out, peeking into the bedroom. Rain was all that answered. Duo scratched his head in puzzlement as he walked back into the living area. It was then he noticed that his companion was standing out in the pouring rain on the balcony, soaking wet. Duo chuckled to himself and slid the sliding glass door open. 

"What in the world are you doing out here?" He asked lightheartedly. 

"I love the rain," Katsumi answered indirectly. 

"You're soaking wet, Kat," Duo noticed, putting his arm over her shoulders. 

"I don't mind. Rain always makes me feel calm, even if it isn't real." She said quietly, not looking away from the droplets of water falling down from the colony sprinklers. Duo watched for a moment and smiled. 

"Yeah, it is," He noticed. "I haven't watched rain like this since…" Duo's voice faded off, somewhere in a memory that stung his heart. 

Kat felt a tremor run through her companion's arm and she looked up at him to see the pained expression on his face. 

"Duo," She whispered, embracing him. She didn't question what made him feel this way; Kat assumed it was best not said as she felt his sobs. The young woman touched Duo's face that was cold from the rain. 

"Let's go inside, you'll get sick," Kat advised, opening the sliding door and leading him in to the couch, where the two plopped down. Katsumi took Duo's hand in hers and leaned close to him. 

"Sometimes I think I just can't go on after all that's happened," He murmured, stifling a sob. His words stung Kat's heart.

"I have the same thought sometimes," She said, letting him lean on her. "But we have to keep going, we're all each other has," Kat whispered, kissing him softly on the cheek. 

"I'll be there for you," She said, wiping the tears from his face. Duo couldn't help but smiling. 

"And I'll be there for you," He said, hugging Kat close.

The next Friday, the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo… 

****

"Kat?" Duo gasped, coming into the security room. Kat was standing next to Zechs and Relena, listening to the updates about the threats against the Vice Foreign Minister. Kat was wearing a long, dark blue, strapless dress with a long cape that attached to the back of her dress and her finger. It was equipped with a pocket for concealing a weapon. 

Kat blushed. "Hi," She said timidly, crossing her arms in embarrassment. Duo walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders. 

"You're beautiful," He whispered in her ear. Kat turned slightly more pink in the face as she smiled back up at Duo. 

"You're not too bad yourself," She complimented him. 

"Well, I know that!" He joked. Kat laughed. 

"Duo, you're assignment is the west side of the room. Try to keep your eye on Relena all the time." Heero said, "Katsumi, yours is the east. Keep to that side and never let Relena or Zechs out of your site," He instructed. Duo and Kat nodded. 

"Noin and I will be at the north and south ends of the room. We will all be connected by these," Heero took out communication devices that fit around one's ear. "Try not to be obvious." He said, handing out the devices. Everyone nodded as they fit the communications to themselves. 

"Relena, you are to be with Zechs all of the time, do you understand?" Heero asked, facing the Vice Foreign Minister. Relena blankly nodded, still looking off to the right. She was still blind from her attempted assassination four weeks ago. Though her vision was slowly returning, she could only vaguely see movement, and even then it was very dark. Relena, much to her dismay, had to be led everywhere. 

"Brother, please, I should just save you the trouble and use my cane. I would be fine," She tried to protest one last time. Zechs shook his head. 

"No, Relena. It's safer if I escort you anyway," He said. Relena sighed noticeably. 

"Alright," She said, holding out her arm so Zechs could take it in his. By now she was used to this. Either Heero or Zechs would escort her to a car, to a pulpit, to a meeting. She hated not being independent anymore. 

Zechs took his sister's arm and led her out of the room to the Imperial Hotel's basement ballroom for the fundraiser gala. Kat, Duo, Heero, and Noin followed five minutes afterward, spreading out immediately after they left the security room. 

Kat walked into the room and began to search the room for Preventer Wind's conspicuous white hair. "Gotcha," She muttered to herself as she spotted Zechs and Relena being greeted by an older man and woman – probably the host and hostess. 

A string quartet began to play and Katsumi was immediately bored. _It never fails, I get a job as boring as this and slow music plays and I'm gone, _She sighed, already feeling her mind wander off into space. 

Across the room, Duo had spotted Zechs and Relena himself and began to skim the room for any suspicious looking characters. None, as he had suspected. He had, however spotted Kat. He waved to his friend, and she waved back happily. Almost immediately an annoyed voice hissed across the communication lines.

"Don't attract attention to yourself," Heero snapped. 

The two immediately lowered their arms and said in unison "Sorry, Heero," 

Some laughter over the lines was heard from Noin to which both Duo and Kat could imagine Heero's disgusted look. 

In the middle of all of the action, Relena was becoming incredibly fidgety. She wanted to let go of her brother's arm and wander around by herself. The young woman suddenly had an idea. 

"Milliardo, could we go get a drink, please?" She asked as pleasantly as she could. 

"Alright. Pardon us, please," Zechs said, nodding his head to the founders of the children's hospital. 

"Pleasure talking to you," The elder woman said, smiling. Relena smiled and nodded her head, assuming that she should. 

At this same moment, Katsumi began to zone off looking at one of the paintings on the west wall. 

Heero suddenly lost his sight of Zechs and Relena as they moved in towards the refreshment table. Someone stepped in front of his line of sight. 

Noin, in her attempt to keep an eye on her husband and sister-in-law ran into a man who appeared to be headed towards the bathroom. She quickly apologized, but by the time she looked up again, she could not find Zechs and Relena.

Duo was lucky enough to be sidetracked by a woman who was inquiring about his position. Since he didn't feel like telling the whole world that he was security detail, he was making up some fancy sounding job while trying to change the subject and get away at the same time. 

Relena and Zechs approached the refreshment table. Preventer Wind took his arm from his sister for a moment to get a glass of champagne for himself and Relena. She took this opportunity to take a few steps backwards and attempt to walk without running into anything. When Zechs turned around, Relena was gone. 

"Relena?" The white-haired Preventer frantically searched the room. "Damn it," he cursed, putting the champagne glasses back. 

"She slipped away, where is she?" He asked quietly into his communicator. 

"Lost her?! Zechs!" Noin snapped. 

"Where is she?" Zechs reiterated. 

"I can't see her," 

"Duo?"

"Neither can I," Duo responded. 

"Kat?" 

"Shit, where'd she go?" Kat cursed as she was dragged from her daydream. Zechs grunted in frustration as he began to push through the crowd to find his sister. 

Duo looked up nonchalantly just before he was going to begin his search for the missing Foreign Minister and noticed a man in a trench coat put his hand into his coat and pull something out. Curious, he watched as the man pulled out a small black object and aimed it at the ground. Duo looked down and saw Relena. 

"Shit!" Duo exclaimed as he took off for the floor to fetch Relena. As soon as he was within jumping range, he heard a shot and leapt from the floor, plowing into the Vice Foreign Minister just in time to knock her from danger. 

Immediately, Heero had his weapon out and shot the sniper with his tranquilizer and nailed the perpetrator in the neck. The man in the trench coat fled. Zechs and Noin were already on the case and headed him up at the stairs. 

People screamed and instinctively headed towards the doors, making the Preventer's job easier.

"Duo!" Kat shouted running through the panicked crowd towards the chestnut-haired young man, who was picking himself up off Relena. 

"You okay, Relena?" He asked. 

"I'm fine, what happened?" She asked in a confused tone.  Just then, Heero arrived on the scene. 

"Duo, is everything okay?" He asked, helping a trembling Relena up. "Yeah," Duo said in a husky voice, still sitting on the ground. 

"Duo!" Kat called out again as she fell down on the floor next to him and hugged him. 

"I'm fine, Kat," He assured her. 

"Are you sure?" He asked, helping him up. Just as he began to nod, something caused him to grab his right side and wince. "Duo?"

The young man pulled his hand out from his side and examined it.

"Oh my God," Kat gasped. 

Duo's had was covered in red. Blood. 

"I guess I didn't notice," He chuckled to himself as he felt himself loosing his breath. 

"Zechs, get an ambulance up here, Duo's been hit," Heero snapped into the communicator, still holding Relena. The Vice Foreign Minister's unseeing eyes widened. All she could do was listen and infer until Heero had said something. 

"Oh my God, Duo," Kat was suddenly frantic as she felt Duo's breaths becoming more labored. She laid him back down on the ground and ripped his tuxedo off to reveal his blood-soaked shirt. Heero observed the wound. 

"Looks like it hit a lung," He diagnosed. Kat's heart nearly stopped beating when she heard that. 

"No! No! Duo!" She said, ripping the cape from the back of her dress and tying it about Duo's wound to try and stop the bleeding. 

"Kat, ssh," Duo whispered, holding his hand up to Kat's lips to try and calm her down. Tears began to well up behind Katsumi's eyelids. "It'll be okay," He assured her before closing his eyes and trying to think away the pain. 

Katsumi's tears poured over her cheeks as she leaned down and kissed Duo's lips, praying for his life. 

Bokuto Hospital - the next day 

Severina and Quatre had no sooner arrived in Tokyo then they were at the hospital to find Kat and Duo. Heero met them in the lobby. 

"How is everybody doing?" Quatre asked, a sounding a little flustered. It was winter in Japan, and a three-inch blanket of snow on the ground was being added too by flurries, making things rather cold. 

"Duo's been stabilized, but he's still in critical condition. He has a punctured lung." Heero reported. Severina bit her lower lip. 

"We couldn't get Kat to leave his side last night, Relena and I brought some clothes and a blanket. She stayed here last night, although, it doesn't appear that she slept much," He added. 

"Can we go and see them?" Severina asked, gripping Quatre's hand. Heero nodded and led them down the hall through a set of doors labeled "I.C.U." in Japanese Kanji and Standard English. A nurse stopped Heero in the halls. 

"Only family is allowed to see ICU patients," She said sternly. 

"They are family," Heero said in a gruff voice. The nurse regarded Quatre and Severina carefully before sighing and nodding. Heero nodded back to the woman and continued to lead Severina and Quatre down the hall to Duo's room. Yuy carefully opened the door and peeked in to see Kat pacing around the room, running her fingers through her hair and tears spilling over her cheeks. 

"Kat?" Severina asked as the three walked into the room. 

"I can't get him to wake up," Kat muttered in a semi-conscious voice, still pacing around Duo's bed. 

"He's still under the anesthesia," Heero tried to do his best to comfort her (as far as comfort goes for Heero), but her paces only quickened. 

"It's my fault, I should have been watching. I shouldn't have looked away, he wouldn't have been hit. It's my fault," Katsumi continued to ramble almost psychotically. Severina grabbed her friend by the shoulders. 

"Kat!" She raised her voice, trying not to be too loud. Katsumi blinked and stared at Severina as she shook the cobwebs from her head. 

"I….Severina? Quatre? When did you guys get here?" She asked. 

Severina looked at her friend with concern. Kat's eyes were hardly staying open from exhaustion and they were red and puffy from crying. 

"You need some sleep," She said. 

"Can't," Kat answered simply, looking down at the ground and nervously messing with the strap to her watch. Suddenly, Duo sputtered in his sleep and Kat was instantly at his side. 

"Duo!" She called out as his face contorted into a pained look. He coughed a few more times before his fit was over, but his face continued to convey that he was experiencing pain. "Please open your eyes," She whispered. 

Quatre and Severina looked at each other in concern for their friend. "Kat, maybe we should go get something to eat?" Quatre suggested. 

"No!" Kat yelped falling to her knees at the bedside. She continued to watch Duo, her red eyes hardly even blinking. 

Suddenly, Heero's pager beeped and he looked down at it. "I have to go. Interrogations," He stated plainly. Quatre and Severina nodded as Heero left the room. Kat didn't say anything. 

"Kat, come on. There's nothing you can accomplish by sitting here and worrying. You need some sleep," Severina said sympathetically as she sat next to her friend on the floor. 

"I need to be here with him," Kat said. 

"Kat-"

"He was there for me! I need to be here for him!" She cried. 

"I'm positive he doesn't want you going on like this though," Quatre said. 

"I…we…we've become so close in the past few weeks…I can't sleep without knowing that he's alright. I won't go, I can't sleep, or breathe, until I know he'll be okay," Kat whispered with the utmost sincerity as more tears rolled down her face.  

Severina suddenly understood. "Would it be okay if Quatre and I brought some lunch up here for you?" She asked. Kat shrugged. 

"Sure," She said. Severina smiled and patted her friend on the back. 

"We'll be back!" She assured Kat as she took Quatre's arm and pulled him out of the room. 

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Quatre asked once they were clear of the room. 

"The bond that she shares with Duo runs deep. They both have suffered big tragedies in their lives and felt very much alone. That's why she won't leave his side." Severina explained. 

"But she's not totally alone, we're here, along with Tom, Li, Trowa, and everybody else," Quatre noted. 

"She knows that, but I can understand where she's coming from. All of us SIA victims remember losing our families, but mourning for their loss is almost a little easier in a sense, it's easier to accept that they're dead since we have been without them for so long," Severina explained, a little lump rising in her throat as her own memories came back to her. "But Kat has just lost someone in the present and she has to deal with it now and there's no way for her to forget."

"And Duo has lost so much in his life, it's only natural that they draw strength from each other," Severina said, trying not to think of her own experiences. Quatre smiled at her and embraced her. 

"We can all draw strength from each other," He said, kissing her hair. 

Back in Duo's room, Katsumi had finally quit her pacing and looked out of the window onto Tokyo Bay. Despite the snow and freezing temperatures, it was still unfrozen, waves softly lapping against the shore. 

"I've never been on Earth and had time to notice how beautiful it is until now," She said to herself. "You always told me that we needed to come here and see how beautiful the stars are from Earth." 

No response. 

Kat moved closer to the window and leaned on it, watching the small flakes of white powder float through the air and silently fall to the ground. 

The room was quiet for a few minutes as Katsumi finally got her mind off of Duo for the first time since she had awakened at two in the morning after sleeping for three hours. Though she knew she needed to sleep, she just couldn't. She and Duo had been sleeping together since her "housewarming" party. Kat didn't realize just how much she depended on him until she couldn't hold him in her arms. 

"I don't ever think I've ever seen snow before, Duo. Have you?" She continued as though Duo was actually awake. "It's beautiful, Duo," Katsumi whispered. 

"More beautiful than rain?" A voice whispered. 

"More beautiful than-"

Katsumi suddenly realized that she was not the only person in the room and whirled around to see Duo, awake, smiling at her from his bed. 

"Duo!" Kat cried happily, running over to the bed and falling down at the side of it again. "You're awake," She said as tears spilled over her cheeks. 

"Kat, why are you crying?" Duo asked as he reached up to her face and touched her cheek. Katsumi took his hand. 

"I'm just so happy that you're here," She said. "But my tears won't stop," Kat laughed at herself, feeling a little embarrassed. 

"You're crying for me?" Duo asked, flattered. 

"There is always someone who will cry for you if you…If you…" Anya stopped, afraid of her own thoughts. Duo smiled, remembering the first time that he ever met Kat. She spoke the same words

"There's always someone that would cry if you died!" 

"I love you too much to leave without you," Duo whispered, his lungs weak from the surgery of removing the bullet. 

Kat smiled back into his violet eyes. "Duo," She said softly as Duo pulled her face closer to his. 

"I love you," She whispered. 

The two kissed tenderly as the snow gently outside the window. 

Unbeknownst to the lovers, Quatre and Severina had re-entered the room just in time to witness the scene. The platinum blonde young man slid his arms around Severina's waist and held her as they watched. 

"I don't think any of us will be alone, ever again," Severina whispered, leaning against her lover. 

_…I hope this feeling of peace carries all the way to the stars…._

****

The End 

**Notes:**

_"Ohayo Duo-kun!"- _"Good morning Duo!" the use of "kun" infers compassion or deep respect. 


End file.
